What do you want from an old school night?

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What do you want from an oldskool/old school night

  • Piano - all night long?

    Votes: 1 3.0%
  • Piano - for most of the night?

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Piano - used more sparingly at times during the night, with other genres having a more equal share?

    Votes: 18 54.5%
  • No fucking piano?

    Votes: 4 12.1%
  • Electro, Hip Hop, Soul & Funk

    Votes: 4 12.1%

  • Total voters
    33

Jiglo

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At the end of the day its personal choice,if you dont like the music that is being played at a nite or on a ra g odio station you just don't go or tune in simple is it not :D

You're definitely missing my point mate. If it was so and so's night then fair do's Bernie, play whatever you want (same goes for the radio), but as it represents the whole forum then there isn't a lot of scope in the music policy for some members here. That's what I was getting at.

It'd be like Benny or myself choosing the DJ's and doing a Pick's Terrace style night (To be fair, i'd choose all the picks boys if I was doing my own night:cool:). That could just as easily have been a Christmas Bash of old school music too, but it wouldn't represent the diversity of oldskoolanthemz and old school in general. It's just one small part of the old school sound.

While the management chose the people that asked to play though then it's more understandable, but perhaps they should have asked for a bit more diversity, or said ''OK people, we have so many members down to play so far, but we need a bigger range of styles to make this party go off, so get your name down if you play techno/breakbeats/hardcore/or whatever....'' and tried to balance the night out. Or at worst used less DJ's to play a broader range. Good to see at least 3 people that don't play much piano on the setlist anyway:thumbsup:

This one is set up now and I wouldn't wish anyone be dropped from the setlist, so this poll is more for future events and to let the management know there's more to old school than anthemic piano, so if everybody can please vote then it'll really help to see the true demographic of OSA:thumbsup:
 

BOD

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The thing is you are making it sound like me and Dan have hand picked a bunch of piano djs for our own benefits with your comments on here, shouty and fb but the reality is it was first come first served over a couple of weeks in the thread about the do. Nobody was hand picked strictly for their music style but purely on reading and replying to the thread. Can only accommodate the people who got involved with the time slot available
 

Jiglo

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I'm saying if I were picking DJ's to play an OSA night, I would have chosen a broader variety. If I was getting too many of a similar style asking me to play, then i'd have asked for a bit more diversity. That's trying to please as many people as possible though Chris :thumbsup:

All I wanted to do here was start a poll to get a rough idea of the demographic and get a good response.
 
well i voted for - Piano - used more sparingly at times during the night, with other genres having a more equal share?

i was torn between this vote & the no piano vote, i suppose my heart says 'no piano', but my head says 'equal share', at the end of the day its each to their own, i can listen to a bit of piano, but couldnt stand a full night of it

living in Carlisle i used to travel in Scotland a lot back in the day (streetrave, rezerection etc), where it was always a 'bit harder' than down in Manc & Lancs, altho i was a bit of a regular at zone (jenks/north pier days) & loveshack

to be honest piano stuff is not really my favorite genre, i feel i have a wide range of 'dance' records, (i only use vinyl, so my collection is limited) and play/have played various genre's on my radio slot over the past 3years, including yes piano, progressive, speed garage, trance, french filtered, hardcore, rap, acid, chicago & disco, i dont mind electro, breaks etc, but just dont have much in my collection

myself and a couple of mates run a occasional night in a local pub up here and we always get asked for 'zone, italian, piano' luckily one of my mates is Tony Graham who played at the zone in the later years, and we just leave it to him.... i usually go into the other room
for a chat!

btw, i did not put my name forward for the crimbo doo, as im off to see the best 'dance' act on the planet Orbital on the Wednesday before in Newcastle and stopping over for a few messy days!
 

alexbennett

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Aug 11, 2005
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well well well .. It seems like we are going round in circles here ,, But i agree with jim on all counts ,, the reason this site has almost evaporated over the years is certain cliques will not and point blank refuse to accept any other genre or forms of music to expand the site so people have gone over to more broadminded sites musicly.
I for 1 belive there will be more Djs than punters at this xmas doo.

Picks has had 7 yrs success for being different
 

BOD

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Yeah but Dan put a first come first served reply option on the thread so if people responded you can hardly turn round and refuse them. Perhaps the option for another do next year can be approached differently but there again if you leave the decisions open things tend to drag on and dont get sorted going off previous experience and the first come first served nudges people to make a choice and you can then crack on. I myself didn't even get my name down on the list in time and Dan was good enough to split some time at the end with him back to back so I could play
 

JACKG

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Nice to see a lively topic eh lol

Personally I think those who are advocating less piano should play more sets on the radio and do there bit for the styles they are championing ;) You may even convert some into that style

It's also a bit unfair to criticise the people who are making an effort to make the sites Christmas do happen - they ain't doin it for the profit motivation. I'm a lazy git, if it were me in charge u would have no do!

Like it or not piano anthems are the most popular, don't mean they are the best and understandingly many DJs can be fed up with em, though there is plIenty of great music old n new / dance n non dance to fill a lifetime available.

I don't reckon u will get a true result by the poll, not pre judginRg it but think those who like the piano will be put off sayin so .

I very much agree with BJs post about clubs n set up - bang on(apart from the sheep bit though :turn:
 

JACKG

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Oh and if someone really wants my 45 min slot and feels they an offer that something different I'll happily just come down n have a few beers with some decent peeps who like there tunes:)
 

Jiglo

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Nobody needs to feel intimidated about voting :thumbsup: I want a honest poll (whichever way it's going to swing) and i've deliberately left out the option to see who voted for what to encourage people to vote, anonymously. I've seen one example of a no vote already too and that member seemed to be swinging towards a non piano stance, so i've no reason to believe that it curries favour either way.

I know there's a lot of kids (or shall I say late starters) who know nothing but piano, simply because that's all they've heard at certain nights, but maybe if they'd listened to a more diverse selection than just piano, they would see it as a piece of the bigger picture.

As an example perhaps it was great to see the hardcore tent was nearly always the busiest at RetroTrax festi. I think the atmosphere, energy and the music overall in that arena couldn't be beaten. It shows another side of old school when people have a better choice:thumbsup:
 

muddyfunkstar

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Jul 19, 2010
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I guess I'd like a night themed around a year or range of years, with all the classics that made up sets from that time, be it piano, bleeps, chuggers, and so on.

All piano all night would get a bit tiresome, and the piano tunes would lose their power. It's not like any DJs back in the actual day ever did 2 hours of piano. A good set builds tension, and the massive anthem releases it.
 

BOD

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This was also tried not long back as well to encourage some of the djs back who haven't played on here to no avail. The only people who did step up was Fink who had one of the busiest shoutbox & listeners on a Friday in ages playing mostly piano tunes and then Sam has took on regular Monday nights and again had massive listeners on a Monday and was a big success. I think with it being a site of oldskoolanthemz as it says on the tin so to speak, people are always going to end up on this site originally to hear such music. I think weekends in particular when people have had a few and are in a party mood then the livelier anthem stuff goes down better than other stuff. But again, the bleeps surface2air played had 30+ on a night normally dead. This makes me think a lot of oldskool genres you guys want to hear should be played more and you should step up, dust off your tunes and give it a go during the week. I'm not saying you shouldn't play at weekends but if you did play on here more often and gave new members and old a chance to hear something a bit different then just maybe it could ignite things a bit and prove far more than any poll just what people want by its success. Jim get your electro out, Benny funk it up midweek, Alex bang out some breaks, Monty stick some hardcore on (early enough for people to interact with on a school night lol)Debs, Vee how about disco nights?. This would give people a full week of variation. I know we are all busier during the week with work and other things but if we could get something on the schedule for people to actually see then that can only be a positive thing. I'm not saying everyone take up a weekly slot but perhaps fortnightly or even once a month? I know it sounds like I'm defending the piano in the replies and to an extent I am but not because that's all I want to hear or play as anyone who knows me well knows I like anything from chillout to acid, disco, progressive and many other styles. That's all, any mistakes this is all being typed on my phone and I'm crossed now :D
 

djperkins

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Why not poll everyones fave tracks and get 1 dj to play all night long...Butty....I'll deffo take 2 midweek slots...was thinkin 1 early week and 1 Thursday...could do 1 night of Shelleys classics and be 90/91 purist...and A more general early/mid nineties sesh with some progressive stuff and maybe some beats aswell...
 

ste huxley

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Ive just re-read this whole thread and its a thread and a half!:cool: Ahh just like the old days of erm old skool anthemz:love:

I did mention in my previous post that I would prefer not to hear something like old skool hardcore in a club (right now in my life) however I still like it. I used to play for raves like Vibealite and knocked that out all night. Check out my euphoria rave mixes on my site. BUT if I was having a period in my journey of old skool and just so happened to be playing old skool hardcore and was offered a chance to play out some of these fookin minters at this years OSA crimbo dooo then I would take up the offer. It may deviate from the other DJ's tunes but you know what, Id be buzzin and guaranteed some of the crowd would 'get it' and get a groove on. I'd say to Dan or Bod when they were compiling the DJ set list times to say ste huxley - old skool hardcore set

Know what I mean?

I confess that I was planning on having a bit of a dooo aka A RAVE for my 40th in feb next year and I chose to get in contact with all the DJs that mostly hung out here back in circa 2001 ish as as kind of a celebration of OSA. I do not give a flying fook what they will play, I myself am not playing. Im just getting FOOKED. I know there will be a top atmosphere whatever is played. Btw this has been rain checked as me and Jo are having a new baba in April, so will have it belated in the year. But its happening..

Anyway another dimension to the thread presented:thumbsup:
 

Northern Star

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Wasnt going to reply to this as i think you all know where i stand on piano..... or do you :hubba:

To be totally honest i dont think there is such a thing as a perfect night any more (well not for me anyway) i think as ive got older my taste has changed greatly to how it was when i was younger, having it large every wk. Thats not to say i cant listen and appreciate the same tunes as much as i used to because i really do, i think the problem lies is that i appreciate a whole world of other stuff also just as much.

A talented DJ for me isnt just in the mixing its the carefully selecting the tunes to tell a storey and knowing how to build a set and how to build an atmosphere..... Those huge anthemz style tunes should be dropped very sparingly when you least expect it for full impact - and the rest of the set should be just as carefully crafted. This where nights fall down for me.... too many djs - no atmosphere - no build - no storey :( so i personnally avoid going out nowadays unless its something different! The last really decent 'old skool' night i went to where i can honestly say i was blown away by the tunes and the crowd and the atmosphere was 'Shellys Reunion' in Stoke going back about 5 yrs or so now! Three DJs all night in the main room (or was it two) which ever way the whole night was truly up there! I can recall walking into the downstairs pre bar and the first tune to come on was Karma - -M'Baby followed by more of the same.... for a warm up bar i knew straight away i was in for something spesh!

Top and bottom of it for me is the lack of thought and planning - nights are thrown together with lots of random djs who just play music...... might be good music but with that extra lack of personal thought and planning to build up a night from a nice smoulder to a full on lets rip this place a new arsehole!

Now if someone can do that - ill certainly be attendance! :thumbsup:

I do love my soul and funk too....but ive been to a few of these nights also where djs think its ok to play the usual commercial bullshit! Id like to see a DJ who came and play the lesser known tunes...keep it interesting, stop playing tunes on the strength of its reputation and start playing tunes on the strength of how amazing the tune tune is! There are djs i know who do this but alas they dont play out at all, which is a shame and a loss to everyone else :(

A night of B Sides for me too would be interesting! ;)
 
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Superdan

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While the management chose the people that asked to play though then it's more understandable, but perhaps they should have asked for a bit more diversity, or said ''OK people, we have so many members down to play so far, but we need a bigger range of styles to make this party go off, so get your name down if you play techno/breakbeats/hardcore/or whatever....'' and tried to balance the night out. Or at worst used less DJ's to play a broader range. Good to see at least 3 people that don't play much piano on the setlist anyway:thumbsup:

This one is set up now and I wouldn't wish anyone be dropped from the setlist, so this poll is more for future events and to let the management know there's more to old school than anthemic piano, so if everybody can please vote then it'll really help to see the true demographic of OSA:thumbsup:

Sorry mate but I dont agree with your comment here. I put up a post in chillout and music chat asking for people to put their names forward to play as I didn't want to just pick people and get accused of favourtism etc. The people on at the event were the only people who replied.

Was I supposed to say sorry but no, I want more diversity and sit and wait for others to come forward? I was trying to get it sorted as time was running out for this year and I have tried to arrange it around everything else that is going on.

The reason I have so many people on is to give everyone a go. I'm not trying to run a night here just a doo where we can all get together
 

Superdan

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Top and bottom of it for me is the lack of thought and planning - nights are thrown together with lots of random djs who just play music...... might be good music but with that extra lack of personal thought and planning to build up a night from a nice smoulder to a full on lets rip this place a new arsehole!

exactly, it seems to be all about the money with most nights nowadays
 

Benny-Digital

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Pink makes the boys wink....
The main reason none house music dj's are rare on osa is because of the sheer music snobbery! I've seen the listener count halve within seconds of a none house dj coming on, It's not coincidence. A massive percentage of listeners are only after one thing on here and the counts speak for themselves..
 

Superdan

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The main reason none house music dj's are rare on osa is because of the sheer music snobbery! I've seen the listener count halve within seconds of a none house dj coming on, It's not coincidence. A massive percentage of listeners are only after one thing on here and the counts speak for themselves..

not snobbery at all mate, if people are not into a certain radio show then they will just simply turn off.
 

BOD

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Thing is Benny, we can't force people to listen. Its a world wide web the station is open too so it's personal choice who tunes in and who doesn't. Surely if people wanted to hear that stuff they would stay tuned? This is why your best bet is to give it a go and plug it. Must have people who want to hear you play. What about all these picks crew? Did they not even tune in to you?